Teaching Science in High Needs Schools: A Survival Guide
Amy Reynolds Northtown Academy Charter HS
Prior Knowledge
Be cautious about assumptions regarding prior knowledge Literacy Math Science Analytical/Critical Thinking Skills
Meet your students where they are at, pull them up to where you want them to be
Classroom Culture
Science is driven by questions, not a list of facts and definitions
Use current media to connect content to real life
Emphasize team building Structure group work for labs/activities,
everyone is accountable Creating student ownership of the classroom
First Days of School
Expect your class rosters to be constantly changing for the first days/weeks of school
Plan to be flexible, use this time to explore science in the news, team building skills, general science skill development
Assessment & Planning
Plan units around central questions Help students connect daily lessons to these
guiding questions Backwards planning
Plan assessment first, use this to guide daily objectives and lessons
Traditional vs. authentic assessment
Literacy
Helping students build fluency in the content area will develop trust from your students
Ideas for literacy development Model skills for students, provide opportunities
for reading, writing, and discussing ideas Latin prefixes, roots, suffixs ACT has a list of most commonly used
vocabulary in the science section
Meeting Resource Inefficiencies
There exists a lack of resources in inner city schools that would never be accepted in industry Buy a black and white laser printer Budget labs and activities Apply for grants! Share web resource memberships with other
teachers
Scientific Method
Will it float? - Good planning lab Demo - Coke can will sink, Diet Coke will float Have students record observations, ask a
question, and write a hypothesis Provide other variables for them to use to test –
Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke with Splenda, Decaffeinated Coke
Record observations, discuss conclusions
Scientific Method
Fly Away Lab Design a paper airplane to fly, make use
weights, tape, paperclips… Provide yarn and yardsticks for measurement Students will do multiple trials, measure and
record data, then graph it and draw conclusions
Scientific Method
Water Droplet Provide eyedroppers, water with blue food dye,
rulers, and large note cards Students will make predictions about the results
of the splash size when dropping the water from differing heights.
Record data, graph, analysis
Scientific Method
“UFOs!: Unidentified Floating Objects” Materials: ginger ale, raisins, large glass beaker Set up beakers right before class by pouring in
fresh ginger ale in and dropping in 5 or so raisins.
Students will observe raisins rising and falling over and over
Follow steps of scientific method to determine why
Science Skills
Tools of the Trade – Measurement Skills Time Mass Length Volume
Metric conversion activity
Characteristics of Life
Glue Monster Have students list what they believe
characterizes life on the board Place the deeper half of a petri dish on the
overhead with water. Use a folder to hide what you are placing in the water and put a couple droplets of Duco Rubber Cement in…add some pencil shavings as “food”
Discuss observations, show students what it was, modify list
Chemistry of Life
Properties of Water – Do it Yourself Demos Pre-lab – Students read about different properties of
water H20 Rising – Tray of water, different sized tubes Penny for your Thoughts – Water, detergent solution,
water droppers Levitating Droplet- Water, oil droplet, slowly add rubbing
alcohol..how many diff. substances? Quick Pepper- Water in beaker, drop in peppercorn, then
pepper flakes…add detergent solution, flakes will then fall. Sitting on top, or floating?
Density of ice
Macromolecules Lab Test for presence of classes of macromolecules Grease spot test for lipids: newspaper,
vegetable oil, sucrose sol. Iodine test for starch Benedict’s test for simple sugar Biuret’s test for proteins
Chemistry of Life
3-D Gumdrop Molecule Models Toothpicks, Dots (preferably aged, less sticky
when stale) See Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers –
printable student activity there with teacher pointers
Chemistry of Life
Phospholipid Bilayer Models Q-tips, straws, glue Halve Q-tips, cotton end = hydrophillic, other
end = hydrophobic Straw sections as protein channels Construct and label structure Relate to cell structure
Chemistry of Life
Liver Catalase Demo Masticated beef liver and Hydrogen peroxide 3 samples: untreated, heated, soaked in acid
solution Can also compare to other living tissues:
potato, apple, etc…
Chemistry of Life
Toothpickase Flat toothpicks, (plastic toothpicks, tape, ice,
paperclips) Student acts as enzyme Record data in intervals to graph Repeat with an “inhibitor” of students choice Good lab to modify for all different levels
Osmosis/Diffusion
Ziploc bags work if you do not have dialysis tubing – corn starch, water, iodine
Expanding/Shrinking egg- do as a demo, too much vinegar = smelly room
Potato cores in varying concentrations of solutions
Cells
Construct models out of household goods Practice microscope skills using newspaper
clippings of the letter “e”, color print, etc… Live cultures from area ponds/streams, or
order from Carolina
Cell Size
Agar Cells Varying sizes of agar cubes with NaOH, time
and measure how far phenylthalein solution diffuses into “cell”
Paper and pencil Draw different size cubes Students calculate surface area, volume,
surface area to volume ratio Apply to understanding cell size
Cellular Energetics
Photosynthesis/Cellular Respiration Elodea, water, bromothymol blue solution,
straws, light source, aluminum foil, saran wrap test tubes, blue food dye
Demo: One student blows bubbles into bromothymol blue, one into food dye…discuss color change
3 test tubes: Control, dark, light…sprig of Elodea in each with BB solution
Record initial and final observations, disscussion questions
Cellular Energetics
Cellular Respiration Erlenmeyer flasks, apple juice (warmed), dry
active yeast, latex balloons 2 flasks of warmed juice…add yeast to one, not
the other…cover with balloon Record observations
Plant in a jar premise
World AIDS Day – Dec. 1st
Most important lesson you may ever teach, needs at least two days Clear plastic cups, dilute NaOH, phenylthalein
indicator Give each student a glass, only one with NaOH…
”exchange fluids”…drop indicator in each students cup
Determine who started with it Discuss real life implications Have students ask any question on notecard,
present answers in presentation the following day
Genetics/Heredity
University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center: gslc.genetics.utah.edu/ Great interactive activities if you can gain access
to a projector or computer lab Create-a-baby
Use a coin flip to determine the allele contribution of heterozygous parents to offspring
Trait Identification Create a family pedigree using pictures or
family history
DNA
Models – cut and paste (use Modern Genetics Supplement) link whole class’s together and put around room
Candy DNA Replication Red licorice, black licorice, toothpicks, little
multi-colored marshmallows
Gene to Protein
Transcription/Translation Phrase activity Students copy a mRNA transcript from a DNA
sequence (gene) from the “nucleus” and break it into codons. Seek out tRNA anticodon in room to find what “amino acid” (word) it represents to build a “protein” (sentence)
Classification
Classic lab using preserved specimens and dichotomous key
Have students create a dichotomous key for a group of real or imagined organisms, often times this exercise will be in your textbook
Evolution
“Evolution” series by PBS is exceptionally good, use clips as discussion pieces
What have you heard about evolution? - Prior knowledge writing assignment
Field Museum exhibit is awesome, can also loan classroom tools
Timeline of the history of Earth using adding tape, rulers, pictures
Evolution
Contents and Covers - Comparative anatomy using forearm bone structures of different organisms. How are they specialized for function? Match with actual organisms
Comparative embryology lab – students cut embryos of different organisms and decide which is which for 3 stages of development. Graph # answers right/wrong per phase.
Evolution
Natural Selection Bean Lab- Use navy beans, red beans, and black beans.
Make mixture. One color should be adaptive. Initial population mates in pairs, 2 offspring each of adaptive color until no more left. Tally how population changes per generation.
The Discovery of Jelly-bellicus Use 8 diff. color Jelly Belly beans, some that
blend well with cedar chips, others stand out. Natural selection, cryptic coloration, and mimicry
Ecosystems
Population ecology Use the environment surrounding the school,
whatever it is Symbiotic relationships and happy faces,
good memory device
Video clips on parasites never hurt…
Environmental Science
Strip mining and sink holes with Hostess Cup cakes
Coal mining and the humanities – one of the more fun lessons I did in Envi Sci
Alternative energy sources brochures Biome vacation planning
Closing thoughts…
The work you have decided to do here is deeply needed. Go into your schools with a sense of purpose, and don’t forget what that purpose is, even on the worst days.
Get creative! Teaching students who lag behind students nationwide with fewer resources forces you to grow into a better teacher.
If you are not having fun teaching the lesson, chances are your students are not enjoying it either. So have fun, science is cool!!!